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Our lesson plans are written and reviewed by educators using current research and the best instructional practices and are aligned to state and national standards. Choose from hundreds of topics and strategies.

TEACHING WITH THIS PRINTOUT

Making connections—to background knowledge, past experiences, earlier moments in a text—is a significant way that readers make sense of and find enjoyment in text. Younger students need to see, hear, and construct those relationships explicitly to gain control of the process.

Begin by including connections in a read-aloud with a story that students will have plenty of access to, either from similar life experiences or from content they’ve studied in class.

As you model connections, use language from the printout to help students see how connections support engagement and understanding.

Invite students to begin making connections with the whole class or in pairs.

MORE IDEAS TO TRY

As students gain confidence with making connections and using the Connection Stems printout to record them, explain that there are a variety of connections readers make—text to text, text to world, and text to self. Help readers understand that Connection Stems allow them relate to something that occurred in another book or story, an experience they’ve heard or know about, or an experience they’ve had themselves.

Use completed Connection Stems to make a visible record of active comprehension throughout the classroom. After students write a connection, ask them to draw the moment in the text that triggered the connection as well as the event or experience they’re connecting it to. Post their work throughout the room.

When students are ready to engage in student-directed book groups, use the Connection Stems to help define the role of Connector for one student in the group.

During an author or concept study that asks students to read multiple related texts, ask students to use the Connection Stems to relate each new text to the learning from the ones before.

RELATED RESOURCES

In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.

Based on the Guided Comprehension Model by Maureen McLaughlin and Mary Beth Allen, this lesson helps students learn three types of connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world) using a double-entry journal.